Caught in the Middle
by ZoeyPurcle
Summary: After the events of Rockfort Island and the Antarctic Facility, Claire Redfield searches for Steve, hoping to destroy any remnants of Alexia's virus, and to remove him from Wesker's clutches so that he can die in peace. Unfortunately for Claire, all hell breaks loose, and she unwillingly becomes the key to Wesker's goal. Slow burn, but eventually Claire/Wesker. Upload issues fixed.
1. Infiltration

First Resident Evil fanfic, not exactly sure where exactly this is going to go but I just had an urge to write something. Slow burn Wesker/Claire.

Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters.

Caught in the Middle Chapter One: Infiltration

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 _4 months after the events at Rockfort Island and the Umbrella Antarctic Facility_

Another Umbrella laboratory, another country, and hopefully, not another dead end.

Since narrowly escaping from the Antarctic with Chris, Claire had committed herself to finding Steve. Steve, who had been through so much, who did not deserve the fate that monsters like Umbrella, Alexia and Wesker had given him. Claire wasn't sure if she would have survived mentally without Steve in the duration of their time on Rockfort, and however short-lived, their time together in the Antarctic.

She didn't love him, there was nowhere near enough time for feelings such as those to develop. But, there was a _bond_ between them, similar to one that she had with Leon. One that comes from surviving a horribly traumatic experience together, and blindly trusting each other to escape alive, _together_. Except that with Steve, only one of them had made it. And Claire felt guilty for that even though she knew that there was nothing that she could have done to prevent Alexia from infecting him, as Chris constantly reminded her.

Still, Claire thought that she should have fought against Wesker more for taking his body, even though she knew that Wesker was abnormally powerful, and she most likely would have been killed, but at least she would have done something.

She was trying to make up for that lapse of action ever since. So here she was, somewhere in Europe, without Chris, or anyone, trying to do _something_. But as she hid from another security guard, she lamented that perhaps she should have gone in here with a bit more support than just herself. There was no time to dwell on that at the time, however; as soon as she'd received the information that it was quite possible that Steve was at this research laboratory, she'd gotten ready for action. She had already cased the place for a few weeks, and managed to get Leon to weasel information from some of his connections. She wasn't going to go in there all guns blazing, that was more of her older brother's style. Claire liked to keep a clear head, especially where Umbrella was involved. She knew that the Steve that she had known was long gone by this stage, but she didn't want to leave him in Umbrella's hands any longer. She would destroy what was left of Steve and anything that they had taken from him, and pray to get out alive.

As security passed, Claire stealthily moved down the corridor. She had managed to acquire a lab coat which was currently hiding the numerous weapons she had hidden on her body, and an I.D. lanyard, but she still did not want to risk the possibility of being identified.

' _Only a few more corridors…'_ Claire recalled the route that she had laid out before entering the facility, figuring from the skeleton plans she had acquired, that anything to do with Steve or Alexia's virus was going to be held in one of the bigger laboratories, located deep within the building's depths. The only problem with the plans was that they were not the refined version, meaning that the floors, rooms and corridors where labelled differently. A pain in the neck, but Claire had managed to figure out a way of finding where she needed to go, having identified a key scientist that she knew had links with some of the research. Eavesdropping on a conversation he had been having, she had figured that she was just a few levels away from where she needed to be. She kept her head down as she passed a group of scientists, and reflected that it was probably best that she had decided to make this trip alone, as Chris was far to jumpy to remain undercover. He had gone off with Jill in an attempt to bring down Umbrella, and Claire hoped that everyone would be so focussed on the problems that ex-S.T.A.R.S. where causing, that no one would pay much attention to her. Just a few weeks ago, Chris had sent contact to Leon to inform him that they had managed to take out an Umbrella Facility in Belgium, and from what Claire could tell, quite a number of Umbrella top dogs had gone out there to cover up and salvage what they could. Which meant that this facility was a little less occupied than it would usually be. She'd have to thank Chris for that, although after this was all over, as he was currently under the illusion that she was at home, where he had told her to stay safe.

' _There!'_ Claire was suddenly pulled from her thoughts when she saw the entrance to the lab. She was just scoping the inside of the lab to see how many staff where inside, when a shrill alarm pierced the otherwise calm silence of the facility, and the hallway was plunged into darkness before being relit with emergency lighting and flashing red lights.

'Shit, shit, shit!' Claire swore under her breath, 'Please just be a fire drill, please, please.'

The intercom system crackled to life, _'Level 3 biohazard breach in sector B7, all staff to relocate to sector H1 for sterilisation and immediate evacuation.'_

Suddenly, the hallway came to life, and Claire had just enough time to move out of the way and recede into a small alcove before the lab door was wrenched open and scientists came running out, headed for the lifts. When Claire was certain that the coast was clear, she moved back into the hallway, and was just walking past the door, towards escape, when something caught her eye. She turned, and cautiously entered the room, peering around large suspension tanks just in case anyone remained. The lab was far larger than what she had presumed, and some areas where in darkness, but Claire focussed on what had caught her eye. Vials and vials of a purple hued virus. 'Alexia.' Claire ground her teeth together. She lifted one up, examining it in the light from the computer screen, and noticed that the computer was still logged in. In the scientist's haste to exit the building, they had left everything unlocked. Claire grinned to herself.

Placing the vial back on the rack, she sat down and opened the file search engine. Typing in Alexia Ashford, she hit enter and anxiously watched as files appeared. She skimmed through them, and just as she felt she was getting lost and confused in the biological jargon, Rockfort caught her eye. Focussing, she started to read;

' _Alexia-Virus specimen, a prisoner from Rockfort Island, S. Burnside, mutated not long after exposure, body could not withstand virus, although body returned to 'normal' state a short time after. Virus samples taken from blood by , and currently undergoing refinement. Studies reveal that it is far more potent than original T-Virus. Remains of specimen S. Burnside destroyed…'_ Claire stopped reading, and felt the back of her eyes prick with tears. Although she knew that he was no longer Steve exactly, she had hoped that he was still here, so that she could put him out of his misery herself, not so that Umbrella could destroy him when they found him to be useless for their sick experimentation. All that was left for Claire to do was to destroy the virus samples from Steve's body. If it was more potent than the T-Virus, there was no way she could let that get out.

She stood from the computer, lifting the vials, when she got a sudden wave of unease. The piercing alarm invaded her ears once again, as she had blocked out the noise when she had been accessing the computer, but that was not the only noise that she had been ignoring. She scanned the lab again, and was trying to remember where exactly she was in the facility, when she heard something that made her blood run cold. Somewhere in the deep recesses of the lab, she could hear a dull thumping noise, like that of a heavy object against bulletproof glass. She heard it shatter, and her stomach knotted with dread when she heard the click-clack sound of claws approaching her. The flashing security lights lit up the sign on the wall, just as the intercom sounded again _'Level 3 biohazard breach in sector B7, all staff to relocate to sector H1 for sterilisation and immediate evacuation.'_

Sector B7, exactly where she was right now. Claire turned in panic just as hunter leaped at her from the shadows, and managed to drop to the floor under it's reach, but her foot slid on the tank slime that it had dropped, and her arm came smashing down on the virus as it tumbled from her grip.


	2. Infection

Hi guys, apologies about the upload issues with the previous chapter, I've fixed it and re-uploaded it. Also, thank you for the reviews, favourites and follows, they are much appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters.

Chapter 2: Infection

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Albert Wesker's past few weeks were tallying up quite a number of irritating incidents that was giving the blonde man a serious urge to kill someone. It all started when news came of Redfield and his anti-umbrella group infiltrating a facility in Belgium and destroying the precious research that he and his people had worked so hard to create.

' _Redfield, that ignorant bastard.'_ What Wesker wouldn't give to crush that idiot's skull like it was nothing more than a cockroach. This event in turn had caused a backlog for other research endeavours, putting everything on hold for the majority of Umbrella's other experiments. Added to that there had been attempted infiltrations at various other facilities, although thankfully none of those had been successful. And now, as the automated voice pierced the calm of his office, it appeared that they had suffered another problem.

' _Level 3 biohazard breach in sector B7, all staff to relocate to sector H1 for sterilisation and immediate evacuation.'_

'B7, hmmm.' Wesker rolled his chair back to the security computer, and pulled up all of the cameras for that level. He reversed back through the footage on each screen simultaneously, as he looked for the cause of the breach.

' _There.'_ One of the researchers, idiot that he was, had not been properly monitoring one of the suspension tanks that contained the new breed of hybrid hunters, and subsequently, it had woken up. Wesker continued to watch as it smashed through the glass, and in one sweep, ripped the face off of and disembowelled the researcher. Wesker couldn't say that he wasn't impressed with the hunter's combat abilities. Luckily for the rest of the researchers in that lab, that specific test subject was kept in a separate room, and as Wesker watched, it started looking for an exit. It would not be long before the hunter escaped from its confines. Just as Wesker was about to shut down the computer and go to capture the creature before anything else got loose, something caught his eye on one of the screens. _A girl_. He followed the footage and saw her again in the lower corner of the screen on a security camera outside of the lab. She clearly knew the layout of most of the security cameras, keeping her face out of view or only being partially visible. He watched as she dashed to hide in an alcove when the warning sounded, and as she emerged, he saw her face.

' _Dearheart.'_ It appeared that Chris was not the only Redfield member going around trying to sabotage Umbrella, or infiltrate its facilities at the moment. She however, appeared to be alone. ' _No Chris to watch out for you, Dearheart?'_

Wesker surmised that the young Redfield must have come alone without the knowledge of her brother. He doubted after the events of Rockfort, that Chris, the ever caring and overprotective brother that he was, would ever let his sister near anything to do with Umbrella again. And here she was, the most valuable pawn in his ongoing game with Chris, right within his reach. _'Foolish girl.'_ He watched as she entered the lab, and flicking to another screen he saw her head over to the vials of virus samples taken from the prisoner that Alexia Ashford had infected on Rockfort.

' _Ah, so that's why you are here…, come to destroy what was left of your dear friend Mr Burnside, how touching.'_ On screen Claire had turned her attention to the computer, which had been left logged in, and Wesker decided that now was a better time than ever to head down to B7. After all, Miss Redfield only had precious minutes before the Hybrid Hunter escaped from its cell, and he couldn't have her destroying that, or indeed leaving with the virus samples.

It took Wesker no time at all to reach the research lab on B7, as he was only on the floor above, and as he neared he could hear the banging noises of the hunter coming from deep within. He heard the loud crash as it broke through the glass observation window on the room in which it was trapped. When he reached the door of the lab he saw her as she was peering into the dark, gun raised in one hand, and vials of virus in the other. All too soon, Wesker saw the hunter leap from the shadows, and although Claire was fast, she had hindered herself by carrying the vials. He watched as she lost her footing from the thick slime that dripped from the creature and fell back, smashing all of the vials containing his precious, rare virus.

Wesker growled in anger as he ripped open the door to the lab, striding in as Claire started to fire at the creature, which had started mutating uncontrollably, long spindly legs rupturing from its back. The virus had not fully melded with the Hunter DNA, a direct result of being woken from stasis too early. If that researcher had not already been killed, Wesker himself would have thoroughly taken pleasure in ending his life.

Claire was currently unaware of Wesker's entry into the lab, as she was solely focussed on the Hunter. This was unlike any Hunter she had ever encountered. It had deep purple scales, and across its chest and stomach were dark green veins, Thick ridges of flesh ran down the spine of its back, with its tail ending in a cluster of sharp barb like protrusions. And now it was becoming more unlike a hunter as mutations ravaged its body. It nearly appeared to be losing control, as it scratched at its own head, drawing purple fluid, and Claire swore that the sounds it was making were alike to human cries of anguish. It sounded as though it were in _pain_. Claire's grip faltered on her gun, as she battled with her conscience, knowing that she should end the creatures pain, but unwilling to inflict further injury on it. It reminded her so much of Steve.

Above her, the sprinklers activated, as the warning continued over the intercom system, the bright red flashing lights reflected in the water that had started to coat the floor and surfaces. Claire squinted her eyes, the lights disorientating her as she shook damp strands of hair out of her eyes. The mutations on the hunter seemed to have reached an end for now, and it again became aware of Claire, snarling as it readied itself to leap at her. Claire fumbled to raise her gun, as Wesker dashed forward and pushed her back, her shot going wide, as she skidded along the wet floor until she hit the back wall. When Claire looked up with surprise through pain hazed eyes, she saw Wesker from the back, but there was no denying who it was. He had caught the Hunter in his grip when it leaped and, quick as lightning, she watched as he plunged his hand through its chest, ending its horrid existence. Claire struggled to get up into standing position, while Wesker was busy inspecting the remains of the Hunter.

' _Crap, I am so screwed.'_ Claire panicked internally, remembering Wesker's inhuman power on Rockfort. Her jaw and shoulder ached at the memory of his savage abuse on the island. She steadied herself against the wall, feeling light headed, and she was struggling to get her vision to focus. Maybe she'd hit her head when Wesker had pushed her out of the way?

' _My gun! Where is it?!'_ Claire tried to focus her sight to find her weapon, which must have slid off into the dark shadows of the lab. All of a sudden, Wesker was in front of her, gripping her throat and forcing her back into the wall. She scrabbled uselessly at his hands, fighting as hard as she could to free herself.

'Wesker…' her voice came out as barely more than a whisper, from both lack of air and fear. She'd never seen someone look so _angry._ Fury radiated from him.

'Redfield's can't resist asking for a death wish, now, can they? Priceless research all lost as a result of you and your brother's meddling!' Wesker snarled, as he threw her across the room. Claire collided with one of the empty suspension tubes, crumpling at the base of it. Her vision doubled, and she tried to put distance between them, but her disorientated state made it difficult. He stalked towards her, smooth as a jaguar, water running down his black leather clad form, the red lights lighting him up every second step. He couldn't have looked more like the devil if he tried.

'It wasn't enough that dear Chris had to destroy samples and research in Belgium, and put a hold on everything. But you, Miss Redfield had to destroy the only samples of Alexia's virus, and now that the specimen has been compromised, I'm afraid Dearheart, that you will have to pay for it with your life.' He grabbed her by the ankle, and dragged her back, as she clawed out to grip onto something, _anything_. He lifted her by her collar, and Claire saw him pull his arm back, ready to plunge it into her chest.

Claire's eyes focussed suddenly, and it was as though time had slowed down to a snail's pace. Everything was so clear; she could see herself reflected in his sunglasses, could see the tiny dust particles in the air, the small droplets of spray from the sprinklers, could smell the chlorine. She watched his arm, saw the muscles tense, and it was as though something else had taken over her body. She brought her chin down towards her chest, trapping his fingers, and gripped both hands around his arm. Using all of her strength in her upper body she pushed herself back out of his grip, using his arm as leverage, as his other arm narrowly missed plunging into her. She could see the surprise in his eyes, and as he came towards her again, she moved, at incredible speed, appearing behind him, as she drove a kick into his back. He just about caught her foot, and spun her away, knocking her into the desks where she landed in a heap on the sodden floor.

She pushed herself up and then all power left her, as suddenly as it came, and she felt as though she was on fire. Her body started convulsing, she curled in on herself, crying out, her vision darkening. It was agony. She saw Wesker's blurry shape appear in front of her, and she lashed out as her muscles started spasming. He pinned her down on the sodden floor while he plunged a needle into her arm. Her body stilled, and she was vaguely aware of him stroking her cheek, brushing the wet hair from her face. He was looking at her completely differently to how he had been before, all rage was gone, replaced with smug satisfaction. Claire was too disorientated to try and figure out what had changed his mood so rapidly.

'There, there Dearheart, it will all be over shortly.' Wesker soothed, lifting her limp body up in his arms, but Claire barely heard him.

And then she felt nothing at all.

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Okay, that was a far longer chapter. Didn't intend for it to go on for that length, but I felt there was a lot to cover. Anyways, hoped you guys liked it.


	3. Monsters

Hi guys, here's chapter 3. A little bit more Claire/Wesker interaction in this chapter. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters.

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Claire Redfield lay very still on an examination bed, contained within a medical laboratory. Wires connected to her skin and trailed back to complicated looking machines that beeped steadily. Her hands lay by her side, her auburn hair fanned around her head like a halo, removed from its usual tied up style. She was dressed in a hospital gown, her clothes from earlier folded on one of the counter tops, her gun and knife atop the pile. Albert Wesker stood next to her, neatly writing notes on her condition, as he took readings from the machines that surrounded her.

Slowly, Claire's left index finger began to twitch, next her hand and then her eyelids started to flicker as well, as she slowly came to. Wesker left the room to retrieve some items from the adjacent laboratory, and Claire's eyes opened.

At first, all she could see was white, blinding, harsh, white. She scrunched her eyes closed, attempting to bring her hands up to her face, but she was hindered by how numb her arms felt, and she suddenly began to become very aware of her surroundings. Claire forced herself to open her eyes again, and could now make out white ceiling tiles, and as she gingerly raised her head she saw that she was in some kind of strange medical room. There was a long rectangular observation window in one wall, and the rest of the walls were fitted with cabinets. In the corner, a tall suspension tube sat empty. She tried to move her weight, but found that her limbs were heavy like lead, and she struggled to recall how she had gotten there.

' _Chris infiltrating the lab, Leon giving her layout plans for another facility…, the breach in the lab….,the virus from Steve….'_ She forced herself to recall more, looking around the room _'…. the hunter…,'_ she spotted a leather trench coat hanging neatly over the back of a nearby chair, ' _WESKER!'_

Claire immediately went into panic mode, concentrating on trying to get her limbs to move. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied her neatly folded pile of clothes, and saw her weapons placed on top. For a moment she felt briefly disgusted by the fact that Wesker had clearly changed her out of her clothes, but now was not the time for shame or embarrassment. She needed to get that gun. Claire nearly cried in frustration at the length of time it took to get her other hand to move. Managing to get into sitting position, she painfully fumbled with the IV drip, crying out at the pain of it as it refused to come out. When it finally came free from her arm, the vein was bruised and bleeding from the agitations she had caused trying to remove it. Removing the rest of the wires that were taped to various limbs, she used her stiff arms to push her still numb legs over the edge of the bed, inching herself forward to drop her feet to the floor. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she crumpled, her legs not ready to take her weight.

Her arm was dripping blood, staining the hospital gown a deep shade of red, with an almost purple hue. This distracted Claire for a moment, as she had so long been used to bright red colour that accompanied her wounds. She shook her head, there was no time for distractions. She gripped the counter top and pulled herself up so that her arm lay across the counter. She felt around and found her gun letting herself slide back to the floor. At this moment, Wesker strode back into the room. He immediately noticed the missing Claire from the bed, and his eyes found her clutching the gun on her hands and knees. She pushed herself up with her arms, mustering up enough strength to move back to press herself against the cabinets.

Wesker stood for a moment, his dark glasses giving nothing away as he observed her. 'Dearheart, you really should be more careful,' he inclined his head towards her arm, where she had ripped out the IV. A smug look came over his face at how helpless she looked, although he amusedly thought that she looked almost like a fallen angel; all in white, barefoot, with her auburn hair shining like fire in the brightness given off by the fluorescent lights. He advanced towards her, and she noticed the syringe in his hand.

Claire tensed, and raised the gun, pulling the trigger only to be met with the dry click of an empty gun. Wesker took her moment of distraction to move at lightning speed, and in seconds he had a steel grip on her, knocking the useless gun from her hands. He dragged her up from the ground and forced her onto the bed. She retaliated immediately, fighting like a wild cat, not that it made much difference. He used his weight to hold her down, and she felt cool leather tighten around her wrist as he strapped her down on the bed, moving down to strap her feet. She fought more then, managing to knock his sunglasses off of his face. He snapped his face back towards her and she met his fiery gaze. His eyes were like looking into hell, all fire and anger and rage. She looked away from him, searching for something to help her escape, but found nothing.

'Miss Redfield that was not wise.' Wesker gripped her face turning it towards him, forcing her to look into his eyes. She spat in his face, her only weapon left, and he backhanded her across the face, her head snapping to the other side. She glared at him from the corner of her eye, as he continued to watch her. He started to clean the wound from her IV drip, and Claire winced as he inserted the needle into the vein on her other arm.

'Why are you doing this,' Claire whispered, her voice weak from lack of use, 'keeping me alive when you could kill me. You know that Chris would come running.'

'Oh Dearheart, do you not recall?' Claire frowned, struggling to understand as to what he was referring.

'Perhaps I should remind you of your little...accident.' He grabbed her other . arm and moved it so that she could see the deep cuts all along it, and the purple discolouration of her skin around the wounds. Her heart leapt to her throat and she felt sick.

'No…no…I…can't be…' Claire felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She had been infected.

'In your pitiful attempts to get revenge for poor Mr. Burnside's life, you managed to infect yourself with the very virus that you wanted to destroy. Now that the Hunter has been compromised, you serve as the only inhabitant of the virus.' Wesker smirked as he said this, pulling her arm back to strap it down. He continued, picking up the syringe he had brought in earlier, 'Alexia's virus is my own personal project. Her virus can allow me to become even more powerful and now, Dearheart,' Wesker lifted his gloved hand to stroke Claire's face, which she attempted to move away from by pushing her head back into the pillow. Wesker leaned down towards her, and she could feel his breath on the side of her face as he whispered, 'You have become the key to my power.'

'I will _never_ help a monster like _you_.'

'I'm afraid, Miss Redfield, that you have no say in this,' Wesker replied, as he plunged the syringe into her arm, drawing a sample of her blood, 'Don't forget, Dearheart, you're a monster now too.'

And with that, Wesker left the room, leaving Claire to come to terms with the fact that she was now helping the very person she despised, who had caused her, Chris and countless others so much pain, to become more powerful.

' _Chris..._ ' Claire's heart wrenched with guilt, as tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.

Somewhere in North America, Chris Redfield returned to an empty house, with Jill in tow.

'Claire? Hello, Claire?!' Chris shouted, making his way through the house. He wasn't liking how unlived in the house felt and started up the stairs.

'Claire!' He burst into her room, finding it empty, her bed looking as though it hadn't been slept in in weeks.

'Chris…' He turned around to find Jill in the doorway holding a note, 'She's not here, she's left to find Steve.'

'What?!' Chris gripped his hair in frustration, and his phone suddenly beeped. He pulled it from his pocket, opening the message and nearly crushed it in his hand at what he saw. His face paled and he collapsed onto Claire's bed.

'Chris!' Jill moved towards him, 'What's wrong?'

Wordlessly Chris held the phone out to Jill. Frowning, she took the phone looking down at the screen, as a video replayed itself. Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth from shock and worry.

It was a video of a bleeding and hurt Claire, curled up in pain as her body appeared to be spasming. She was lying beside the dead corpse of some mutated form of Hunter, and as she watched, Wesker appeared in the frame. He injected her with some kind of sedative, and lifted her from the floor, taking her away. The footage stopped there, and Jill joined Chris in sitting on Claire's bed.

Elsewhere, Wesker smirked triumphantly, setting down his phone as he watched a broken and emotionally spent Claire Redfield cry herself to sleep on the lab security camera.

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Again, another long chapter. I didn't get to write too much about Chris, but he definitely won't be portrayed as some incompetent gorilla. I know that he can be really headstrong but I've always seen him as really intelligent if not slightly overprotective.

Hope you guys enjoyed it, and don't worry, Claire will get to be a bit more defiant of Wesker soon.


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